In my continuing darkroom series, I bring you today Neal Slavin's darkroom.
This is probably one of the most monumental darkrooms I've ever seen. Built into an industrial loft, it features things we rarely get to see in other darkrooms. I especially liked the red plexiglass "safelight" window which allows to print while looking into the next room which is under normal illumination.
Here is his bio at the
Museum of Contemporary Photography where his work is part of the permanent collection.
As usual, I know the book it still copyrighted, though probably largely out of print. So if anybody doesn't feel OK with the content, just PM me and I'll remove the text and images...
Neal Slavin's studio is located in the SoHo section of New York City. The street, built in the late nineteenth century, is lined with five- and six-story buildings festooned with elaborate cast-iron facades typical of the period. Slavin's studio is located midblock on the second story of one of these buildings.
The space itself was a large loft used for storage before Slavin bought it a few years ago. The plans for the combination studio/office/darkroom were done with the help of an architect. Most of the actual construction, however, was completed by Slavin and his staff. The two-story-high ceilings, supported by cast-iron, fluted columns, allowed for the addition of a balcony on one
side that now houses the office and darkroom on a raised level.
Slavin became fascinated with photography while studying art in college and turned professional in 1966. Since then, he has become successful as a commercial photographer as well as building a strong following for his personal work. The majority of his work is done in color. Initially, he sent it to commercial labs for processing, but finding that unsatisfactory, he built a darkroom in which all processing can be done under his total control. His previous darkrooms were dry?without sinks; this one was designed to his personal specifications and is more functional and elaborate than his previous ones.
When Slavin was asked if this was a "professional" darkroom he replied, "All of my darkrooms have been serious. When you think of a professional darkroom you think of very modern and the latest in working kinds of things. As you have probably seen, most darkrooms are more of personal identity and character than a laboratory. I think that's one of the reasons we don't call darkrooms laboratories. My newest darkroom looks very scientific . . . it's very together, very modern but in fact it's very personal, very orderly. It works very well but it's not fancy when you look at it. It's very reasonably done, there's no elaborate equipment in it, all my processing is done by hand."
DeMaio, Joe, Curtin, Dennis, The darkroom handbook - A complete guide to the best design, construction and equipment. Curtin & London inc. Marblehead, Massachusetts, 1979[Sorry, image deleted during forum software upgrade. Please re-upload if so inclined.]
